All posts tagged shitake

By Jessica | February 10, 2010 | Main Courses, Recipes | 4 Comments

In my efforts to eat responsibly, B and I have been buying locally-sourced steaks and grinding them mothers up for ground beef. When we made burgers with it, it smelled just like a grilled streak. YUM.

Fer two burgers:

1 pound chuck steak
1/4 pound asiago cheese
selection of fresh shitakes and button mushrooms
lil bit of goat cheese
butter
truffle oil
2 Sweet Portuguese buns (or whatever you like to eat your burgers on)

Grind your meat and add NOTHING to it. And you know who told me to that? My dude, the Burger King of Brooklyn, Kyle. I asked Kyle to give me some tips on how to make the best burger, what to put in them, what to top them with, etc. He said, leave the fucking meat alone! (he didn’t yell at me though)… Make a patty, put some salt and pepper on the patty. Cook that patty. And patty abandonment was what I did. He was right. This was wrong.

Topped the burger with melted asiago and a puree of mushrooms that had been sauteed in butter and then pureed with a bit of goat cheese and a tad of truffle oil – dead ass, great burger. And the best part is that you can eat it while it still says moo cause you aint getting no ecoli, eboli or tricanosis up in this grass-fed biz.

Oh, the fries were whatever so I wont provide instruction, but they were regular thin cut fries, baked and topped with micro-planed Parmesan and lemon zest.

By Jessica | January 3, 2010 | In The News, Main Courses, Other People's Recipes, Projects, Recipes | 1 Comment

Saw Food, Inc. Kill me now.

My New Years resolution (besides working this fat ass out) is to shop at more farmers markets and eat smaller portions with the goal of being a bit more conscious of my consumption. Ima also do my best to plan out meals so I can double up on the ingredients I buy. How many times does your recipe call for scallions, you buy the bunch, use half, and throw the rest out a week later? So yeah, that shit cannot be happening.

Here is mine and B’s meal plan this week, all different meals that use many of the same ingredes:

Bright and Spicy Citrus Salad Over Rice

That Soba Noodle / Shiitake / Spinach jam on the NYTimes most emailed list for the past couple days.

B and I used to wok up some rice on the daily, haven’t in a while, looking to get back to our roots with some Pork Fried Rice. (wok, peanut oil, chopped pork chop, cooked rice (brown?), cabbage, carrot, siracha, sesame oil, cilantro, basil, bam.)

Although I get my Ashe on, on the reg, I also got a need for the chipotle to hit that tongue as well. I’ll be doing this poached shredded chicken breast with chipotle dressing this week as well.

Oh, and something with a sweet potato. All yall healthy people been squawkin about this shit for a while, I really wasn’t down, but I’m going to try it for lunch. I’ll let ya know how it goes.

By Jessica | June 9, 2009 | Main Courses, Recipes, Snackin, Salads and Apps | 5 Comments

What do you get when you combine a thirst from a hangover and a hunger from being a fat ass? Fat Salad. Fat Salad is a delicious wet and crunchy salad, layered with the meatiest, creamiest, endulgentiest morsels. You can really do it with anything. You may remember a little something called Something Meaty on Something Greeny? Yep, here we are again. And this time, I’m throwing on some egg yolk. Be forewarned, you will tear this mother up.

Oh, actual useful note: choose two of the three suggested highlighted items: shitakes, sopressata and asparagus. My rec is you do vagitarian OR the sopressata and the asparagus. Not that shitakes and sopressata are like Charlie and fingers, but I’m not sure they do anything for each other. Or not. Be all the fat you can be.

Fat Salad

Salad with Asparagus, Sopressata, Shitake Mushroom and Fried Egg

Salad greens for 2, prob something not too strong like mesclun
Sopressata, sliced in strips. you can also use a high quality salami, etc.
1 tbs salted butter
6 large, fresh shitake caps
15 ish stalks of asparagus
Tad bit of olive oil
4 eggs
Fresh pepper
Olive oil for garnish
Serves 2.

Slice your mushroom caps. Heat a skillet with butter. Yeah – I said butter. Toss in the shrooms and saute until soft and buttery. While cooking, put a small pot of salted water on to boil. Trim your asparagus stalks and cut in half. Put your greens on your plate – this shit is going to move fast. After your pork product is sliced, beautifully distribute over the greens. At this point, your shrooms are probably done and your water is probably boiling. Set the mushrooms aside and toss in a bit of olive into the same pan. Over medium to high heat, crack your eggs for a good fry up. The goal is to produce a quick cook of the whites with a crunchy outside, while maintaining a yolky middle.

As soon as you crack your eggs, throw your asparagus in the boiling water. Let em blanch for 60 seconds. At this point, your eggs are probably ready too. Crack some pepper over them bad boys. Now we layer.

On the lettuce and sopressata, put the mushrooms. Then the asparagus. The the eggs. Drizzle just a tiny ass bit of olive on the outer leaves that didnt get blessed by the delicious juices from your hot shit.

Best bite: yolky lettuce and sopressata

I ate this with 2 vodka sodas. Not a bad idea to include. Just sayin.

By Jessica | February 12, 2009 | Main Courses, Recipes | 7 Comments

Yes, I do like ramen more than the average person which is half the reason I make and eat it all the time. But I’m not going to lie to you. The other half of the reason I make ramen is because people look up that shit on the interwebs all day long and get to my blog because of it. And, who am I to not give the people what they want. (One time? someone got to my blog by searching for “roast beef vagina” – I shit you not. The world wide web is a beautiful thing.)

The other half the reason I make ramen (I studied art in school – not math) is because I can put a poached egg in it. And if you been reading Go Meat Yourself at all, you would know that I’m trying to pour egg yolk all over my everything. So on and so forth.

Ramen with Beef, Shitake Mushrooms and A Poached Egg

2 c ramen soup base (it comes in a bottle in the “asian” section of your grocery store)
1/4 c soy sauce
noodles for two (you can use udon, lo mein, or any other dried asian noodle here. Shit, use capellini, fuck it.)
10 ish fresh shitake mushrooms
1 tbs butter
1/2 c white vinegar
2 eggs
1/4 lb roast beef, thinly sliced
2 stalks of scallion, sliced
sirachi for garnish
kimchi for garnish
Serves 2.

In a large sauce pan, add your soup base and soy sauce to 6 cups of water and bring to a boil. While waiting for that boil, remove the stems from your cleaned shitakes and cut into strips. Add the butter to a saute pan and when hot, add the mushrooms, stirring occasionally until tender and buttery. When the soup base is boiling, add the noodles and cook until you like – al dente or whatever.

Add water to a deep frying pan so it’s a couple inches deep. Add the vinegar and heat until almost boiling. While waiting for it to heat, prepare your scallions, grab your beef and get ready to plate. Basically, when your noodles are one minute from being done, crack your eggs into the frying pan of water and vinegar. Let them cook for about a minute. You are looking for a solid ish white but a soft yolk (depending on the stove, the egg and your menstrual cycle, this varies, so explicit instructions would be misleading, but I trust you – you can figure it out).

With a tong, divide the noodles into to huge bowls, then divide the soup broth. With a slotted spoon, add one egg to each bowl. Grab a pile of roast beef, a pile of shrooms, a pile of kimchi and a pile of scallions, and place on top, all in their own little groups so that the eater mixes themselves.

Now, eat that shit. The best bite is when you open the egg and drag the noodle through the yolk. Oh man.

By Jessica | December 12, 2008 | Main Courses, Recipes | 2 Comments

What makes your mouth water? For some it’s pickles, for others it’s burgers. For me it’s both those things AND spicy noodle soup. Either of these three items would cause me to do a diddy if I could eat them all day long without getting to be a total fat ass.

When I found out how easy it is to enhance the 10 cent ramen from your college days, I made it at least once a week. I have now ventured into making it from a soup base with fresh(ish) noodles. Next will be homemade stock. Watch out David Chang, I’m either going to eventually out-ramen your ass, or maybe just come to your restaurant. But you’ll have to roll me out. There!

Anyway, here is a recipe for deliciousness. If you have never cooked anything before, you should start with this.

Ramen with Roast Pork, Mushroom and Poached Egg

1.5 c of ramen soup base (find this in the Spanish/Chinese section of your grocery)
5 c of water
2 inches of fresh ginger, very thinly sliced
one jalapeno, very thinly sliced
8 fresh shitake mushrooms
1 tbs of butter
1 cup of cooked roast pork
3 scallions, sliced
1 egg
your favorite asian noodle: udon, ramen, rice, up to you
kimchi for garnish
sirachi for extra fire mouth
This serves two.

Bring a big pot of water to boil for your noodles. You will also be using this boiling water for poaching the egg but more on that later.

I would really recommend you pause in your sheffin and go buy a mandolin right now. The mandolin has become the love of my kitchen life. But, if you are really not going to do that, grab your jalapeno and ginger and slice the shit out of them – you want them really thin. If you slice really thinly, you can get away without peeling the ginger. Combine the soup base and water in a medium sauce pan and add the ginger and jalapeno. Put on a slow to medium heat.

When the water for your noodles starts to boil, add the noodles.

Remove the stems from your mushrooms and slice. In a small sauce pan, add a tablespoon of butter and a bit of olive oil. Saute the mushrooms until soft. Set aside.

As your soup stock is simmering and your noodles are cooking, cut your scallions, heat your pork if it isn’t already, and get out your eggs and kimchi. I make my kimchi myself. It isn’t entirely traditionally but easy as shit. Check it here.

When your scallion is cut, and your pork is warm and your kimchi is no longer cold from from sitting in the fridge, maybe your noodles are ready, depending on the noodle you are working with. You are going to have to judge that for yourself. When they are done, it’s about moving quickly to assemble your bowl.

When the noodles are done, don’t drain – grab them with a tong and put them in the serving bowl. Add the broth to the noodles. Keep the water from the noodles boiling and very gently crack two eggs into the water. While those cook for 2.5 minutes, add the scallion, pork, mushroom, and kimchi to the soup bowl in pretty little clumps. Leave room for the egg. After 2.5 minutes, with a slotted spoon, carefully take each egg out of the water and add to the bowls. You are looking for a solid egg white but a soft yoke. It will be hard to tell but you’ll get better with practice. Swear.

Serve your ramen with sirachi sauce for the freaks and pop a beer cause this one is hot and spicy.

When you are ready to eat, crack your eggs with chop sticks and with each bite, swirl your noodles through the yoke. This will be the best bit of food you ever done had.

By Jessica | October 8, 2008 | Main Courses, Recipes, Snackin, Salads and Apps | 1 Comment

What do you get when you combine homemade dumplings and spring rolls, wine flowage, and tequila shots to boot? Our house on Saturday night. Oh. Yeah. And I’m not going to lie to you people, the food was banging. Even C said the food seemed easy enough to make at home and her culinary skills peak at choosing a stinky cheese and a dope wine – not that thats anything to laugh about. I can’t taste the difference between merlot and shiraz but give me a blind pork test and I’ll school you. Anyway, make these things at your house to impress your friends.

Steamed Pork and Scallion Dumplings

1/2 lb of ground pork
2 scallions, sliced
1/4 cup of tamari
3 tbs of sesame oil
dash of vinegar
fresh pepper
wanton wrappers
Makes about 12.

Mix the first 6 ingredients together. Drop a spoonful of mixture on to the center of the wrapper. Wet the exposed edges with water. Grab all the corners, bring to the middle and scrunch together. Steam for 20 minutes. Dipping sauces below.

Steamed Ginger and Beef Dumplings

1/2 lb of ground beef
1/4 cup of finely chopped ginger
1/4 cup of tamari
salt and fresh pepper
wanton wrappers
Makes about 12.

Mix all ingredients together. Drop a spoonful of mixture on to the center of the wrapper. Wet the exposed edges with water. Grab all the corners, bring to the middle and scrunch together. Steam for 20 minutes. Dipping sauces below.

Fried Cabbage, Shitake and Carrot Dumplings

1 carrot, diced
1/4 cup of white cabbage, shredded
1/4 cup of shitake mushrooms, diced
wanton wrappers
veg oil for frying
1/2 cup of water
Makes about 12.

Dice your carrot, cabbage and shrooms and combine in a bowl. Drop a tablespoon or so (you’ll begin to feel it out) onto the wrapper. Guess what you do here. That’s right. Wet the edges, grab the corners, bring together, scrunchy scrunchy. Here is what is different. Heat a frying pan and add a bit of veg oil for frying. When very hot, place your dumpling to fry for 5 minutes. When they have a nice crispy brown bottom, pour in a 1/2 cup of water and cover immediately to finish cooking through with a nice steam bath. Let it do its thing for 5 minutes. Should be ready at this time. Dipping sauces below.

Fresh Spring Rolls

1/2 carrot, julienned (that means cut into thin strips at about 3 inches)
2 scallions, cut down the middle middle and cut at about 3 inches
1/2 bunch of cilantro
1/2 bunch of chinese or (uh, american? or italian?.. dunno) basil
rice paper rolls

Cut your veggies and clean and dry your herbals. Add the rice paper to a bowl of very warm water and let it soften for about 30 seconds. Make sure you get all the edges under the water so it doesn’t roll up and crack. When the paper is soft, very gently pull it out and lay flat on a cutting board. Throw a bit of each of your ingredients into the center towards the bottom of the wrapper. Begin to roll the fatty towards the center. Halfway up, grab the right and the left and fold over the rolled half. Then continue to roll up. As soon as the paper dries, it will stick to itself. To serve, use a very sharp knife to cut 2 or 4 slices and stand up if possible.

Dippin Sauces

sirachi
wasabi paste with tamari
chopped ginger in tamari
sesame oil with red pepper flakes (or without)

Let me mention that I particularly like the wasabi with the beef and the sesame oil with the spring rolls. Let me also mention that these are damn easy to do, cheap as all get out and fun to eat. I am not afraid to cater your next dumpling affair. Gimme a date and a time and I’ll be there. You provide the tequila.